A number of Senator Chuck Colgan’s constituents were rather taken aback after Colgan sat on his hands and did nothing while the Senate of Virginia shot down a number of bills that would help state and local officials reduce the number of illegal aliens unlawfully present in Virginia, even after an illegal alien massacred three of his constituents just days before these bills were killed. Why, they ask, would my elected representative go AWOL on us right when we needed him to protect our very lives?Well, perhaps Chuck Colgan has a very different take on what “the rule of law” actually means.What that term means to us is that we follow the law, and we expect it to be enforced fairly and consistently against anyone who violates it. Intentionally violating the law when it might seem in our interest to do so isn’t behavior any of us would consider consistent with the “rule of law”, and that should especially be the case for people who decide what the law is that the rest of us are required to follow.On February 19th, 2008 Senator Chuck Colgan and his then-girlfriend Carmen Bernal filed a deed for a property at 8070 Tysons Oak Court in Gainesville, which they paid $10.00 in cash for. Even more fascinating than the idea that Colgan is getting a property then assessed for $651,500 for a mere ten bucks is the fact that the deed named Colgan and Bernal as “tenants by the entirety.” According to VA Code Section 55-20.2, the only persons legally entitled to “tenants by the entirety” status are married couples.That status is helpful if one of the “tenants” passes away, as the whole interest in the property transfers to the surviving “tenant” without having to go through the estate of the deceased, the property is shielded from any tax liabilities, and no attorneys are really required to execute the transfer. This is a big deal when you’re over 80 years old. Conventional joint ownership would have half of the interest in the property subject to court action, and if Colgan just bought the house on his own and his kids weren’t fond of the new girlfriend, they could have her evicted from the property if Colgan died. There are lots of financial and legal implications here, and they’re big ones.Colgan married Bernal on April 4th, 2008 two and a half months after he represented himself as being married in these legal proceedings. That would make the affidavit Colgan and Bernal executed regarding their marital status during the process of purchasing this property at such a suspiciously low price a case of deliberate fraud. Depending on how that document was drafted, it could also constitute perjury.So when we’re asking our elected officials to support the rule of law, it doesn’t come as much of a surprise they don’t when those same legislators who write our laws are busy evading them to their own benefit. “Do as I say, not as I do” isn’t exactly a foreign concept to Democrats in the Senate of Virginia.In other circumstances I might go through the exercise of alerting our Commonwealth’s Attorney that there is ample reason to investigate not only the rather apparent violation of Virginia law that happened here. With Paul Ebert unfortunately filling that position and Ebert’s pathetic history of ignoring political corruption complaints no matter what evidentiary documents you can produce, I know that’s an utterly hopeless cause. Ebert will never investigate this. He never does.So in ways large and small, the basis of our republic as being founded upon the rule of law suffers yet another blow. The politically powerful break the law while we cry out to have Colgan to do something, anything at all, to help support the rule of law and help put an end to having Colgan’s own constituents murdered by illegal aliens.So when you reached out to Chuck Colgan for help in the aftermath of the Manassas Massacre and he didn’t do a thing for you, this might help explain it.UPDATE: The ten dollar figure in the deed may be one of those quaint historical holdovers and not actually represent the value of the property, although the document does clearly say that the full consideration for the property was $10. My deed from 2001 doesn’t say the property was transferred for ten bucks. At any rate, the question of why Colgan’s deed with a person he was not married to was filed in “tenants by the entirety” status is the most interesting question here.

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33 Comments

Not much you can do about someone out to feather their nest at the cost of their constituents. Colgan struts around like the king of Siam admiring the hopeless efforts of his minions struggling to defend their family’s against the plague of invaders amused that our efforts are in vain. After all why should he care, He lives in a gated community isolated from his charges strife. Do you think for a minute that the house next to his has 8 cars parked on the lawn and 15 people living in a 3 bedroom home? Do you think he has to worry that 10 men are standing in the yard goggling his wife or daughter every time they leave the house? Hell no he doesn’t. All he cares about is that he can get a cheep gardener to maintain his estate and cheep domestic help to pick up after his sorry ass.

About four years ago Colgan actually sponsored, but did not do much to get it passed (it did not) a bill similar to this year’s bill introduced by Del Carrico that would require most VA employers to use E-verify. So if he introduced it then, he would have no reason to regard such a bill now as ineffectual, etc. Or maybe he was just pandering then, knowing it would be defeated anyway. At any rate, he’s useless.

He’s married now. Is Bernal his wife? If so, I see nothing wrong with entering into a T/E arrangement with a putative spouse. The $10 thing is a little suspicious unless the purpose of the conveyance was to convert his fee simple interest into a T/E with her. If that’s what happened, the $10 was probably appropriate.

To clarify just a little, conveying property from yourself to yourself and another (any body, not just a spouse) as tenants in the entirety is perfectly legal in VA (check out § 55-9. Conveyance of estate or interest in property by grantor to himself and another.):

Any person having an estate or interest in real or personal property may convey the same to himself or to himself and another or others, including to himself and his spouse as tenants by the entireties or otherwise, and the fact that one or more persons are both grantor or grantee or grantors and grantees in the same conveyance shall be no objection to the conveyance. The grantee or grantees in any such conveyance shall take title in like manner and the estate vested in them shall be the same as if the conveyance had been made by one or more persons who are not also grantee or grantees therein.

Note “including to himself and his spouse by tenants in the entirety.” If you are not married, you cannot legally title a property as “tenants in the entirety” which is a benefit of marriage that can only be provided to married couples under a Constitutional amendment that Colgan VOTED FOR HIMSELF.

I agree with Colgan’s vote on that constitutional amendment but it is pretty enraging that the minute it might inconvenience him he will resort to fraud in order to evade it.

The applicable language states, “Any person having an estate or interest in real or personal property may convey the same to himself or to himself and another or others … as tenants by the entireties or otherwise … .” The including clause is to make it clear that even though spouses have been considered a “marital unit,” that they can convey a property interest to each other. It’s just a clarification clause, not an exclusionary clause. The section applies to all people, regardless of marital status.

Beyond the anger/disappointment/etc. that conservative are entitled to for anything Senator Colgan may have done or failed to do, with respect to the anti-illegal alien bills recently killed in the Senate, is there any meat to this house story? The reason that I ask is based on your comments, and my knowledge that you are an attorney and qualified to give legal opinions, has Senator Colgan broken the law, acted in a way that would abuse the public trust, in the case of purchasing this home? If I’m going to get angry, I want to make sure I have something to actually be angry about.

The only thing I see for you to be angry about Colgan is for the same reason I am angry about him (and Frank Wolf, and George Allen, and Tom Davis, and Gerry Connolly, and …) is that by remaining silent about the invasion of illegal aliens, he has implicitly encouraged and abetted that invasion.

As for conveying property for $10 to himself and another as tenants in the entirety, I have no problem with that. In fact, it shows good judgment, in my opinion, in his personal affairs. But the guy is still worthless as my representative. I think Greg (or someone) took a law out of context and misapplied it. If you want to bark up a tree, this one ain’t it.

@ Anon 1:45:
Yes, Colgan is married to a Latina who works at NOVA in the Controller’s office.
According to the Feb 2006 issue of the NOVA house organ, she was appointed to the state “Latino Advisory Board”.

“Bernal Appointed to Board
Prior to leaving office, former Governor Mark
Warner appointed Carmen Alicia Bernal to Virginia’s
Latino Advisory Board.
Bernal, a Manassas resident, is an administrative
and program specialist in NOVA’s controller’s office.
Congratulations, Alicia!”

Also, Colgan did not purchase the property for $10. That sentence is used in all deeds that have bona-fide consideration (real sales price) as a legal fiction of consideration and that $10 is part of the real sales price. Yes, some attorneys will put the full consideration in that sentence but most do not. It signifies that the transaction is for a price and not a Deed of Gift or Quitclaim Deed. The actual consideraton is normally put on the top left hand corner of the document. It prevents the deed from being attacked. Colgan is married to a Latina who also served on the Commission on Immigration for VA when it was in existence. You can see her Oath documentation among the land records of Prince William County.

The fact that Colgan and Bernal were not married at the time they purchased the property - the deed should have stated joint tenants with the full common law right of survivorship and not tenants by the entireties which is reserved for those married to each other and gives certain creditor protection should one spouse get a judgment posted against him/her - except for IRS.

@StopShouting - The duplication is fine. I posted it minutes before your post - so you would not have seen it until after you posted.

I have seen several instances of properties transferred to the same owner for $0 in Fairfax County. I am told that this often happens when the owner takes out a home equity mortgage. I have seen property transfer to a spouse for $0 as well.

I guess the issue in this case, is that this was done -before- the spouse was a spouse. The question is, what was the rush?

Bob, a lot of times people will retitle their homes to change tenancy after they are married and to put it in the wife’s married name, citing “formerly known of record as …” . That deed is recorded with just the clerk’s fee, no consideration (price). Some people will gift deed to put a spouse’s name on title. In Colgan’s instance, he purchased a foreclosed home from JPMorganChase for $565 for cash, put Bernal’s name on the deed with his with tenancy and tenants by the entireties. It should have been joint tenants. Then, after they were officially wed, a new deed should have been signed and recorded changing the tenancy.

Who cares if he married a Latina or a Latino? Now if he married an illegal alien, or employs them then you have something from his personal life which is relevant. Otherwise, I prefer also to focus on the dismal record of our political class, both sides, on a problem that is contributing to the breakdown of any sense of common bonds or citizenship within our ‘community.’

I think Greg should take this to the Commonwealth’s Attorney and demand an indictment and a stiff prison sentence. His reasons for not doing so seem defeatist and acquiescent in bad government. But if he takes these facts and marches in demanding that the full weight of the law fall on Senator Colgan, the entertainment value would be almost beyond measure. Let’s see whether the laughter can be heard from one end of the County to the other. Stick to your guns on this, Greg.

And maybe everybody who eats tacos needs to be watched? Latino Community leaders and individual Latinos, who have supported and continue to support chaos in our immigration system are fair game, just as any other leaders and individuals who champion it. But attacks on Hispanic culture, heritage are counter-productive; even worse plain stupid.

@Doug Brown:
If Ms. Bernal holds a political position that apologizes for, and advocates, on behalf of illegal aliens, then that is an important consideration.

I do not know Ms. Bernal nor her position vis-a-vis illegal immigration and amnesty. She was also a member of the Virginia Commission on Immigration, but none of the minutes of meetings that are currently available online show her making any on-the-record statements or queries.

Other local members of the same commission, such as Delegate Miller or Bob Marshall, might be able to shed some light as to her leanings and whether or not her relationship with Colgan could be viewed as influential, tilting his opinions in a way that is detrimental to the public safety of the legal residents and citizens of his district.

Or she could be someone from the Latino community who is attempting to safeguard against the type of bias and bigotry towards a whole class of people based on their ethnicity, which is not in keeping with American values.

I don’t know. But her involvement in Latino/immigrant advocacy is of interest and is germane. I would agree with you had she not been politically active and assigned to so many politically connected boards, commissions, etc related to illegal immigration. If anything, due to her relationship with Colgan, ethically, she should have recused herself, as prominent Liberals are now demanding that SCOTUS Justice Thomas recuse himself because of his wife’s advocacy for conservative issues.

Bernal chose not to recuse herself from any of these commissions/boards or diminish her advocacy.

My father was Orphaned at the age of five his Father passing just months after his Mother. Raised by his Grandparents who became tenant farmers after the family lost their farm during the depression.

At the age of 17 he enlisted in the Army and fought for his country in WWII. In 1963 My Mother and Father moved to Manassas with their 6 children. My Dad was hired a pilot for a Real Estate developer who had leased the new Manassas Airport. Before the Airport was built his boss went bankrupt leaving my parents with a mortgage for the house on Strasburg St and 6 kids to feed.

Through a hell of a lot of hard work, the will and the guts to survive, and the blessings of investors who believed in my Dad, Colgan Airways was started. That’s what you call the American Dream.

My mother passed away in Jan of 2001 after 52 years of marriage and 8 children. Several years later our father began to date, with the blessing of all of his children (not that he needed it) and his grandchildren.
Yes he married a Latino from Columbia, who has lived in Manassas a lot longer than you. Her children graduated from Stonewall in the 80’s and she has been employed by NVCC for nearly 30 years.

If you knew anything about Alicia and most legal immigrants you’d know they are more against illegal immigration than most Americans.

Alicia did not want to live in the home shared by my parents out of respect for her memory and her children. Last year you reported that my father lived in Fauquier County, now you say he lives in the district in a house he bought for 10 dollars. The truth is the house like most peoples homes is now worth less than he paid for it. How the deed was addressed was perfectly normal and absolutly legal. Your allegations amount to slander.

I explained to you my fathers history so you have a point of reference for why he treats nobody like they are beneath him. He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. You may disagree with him on a political level, and that’s fine. Do yourself a favor and stop slandering his name and reputation.

Your hero Corey Stewart is also married to someone not born in this country. The Attorney General you worship advised against passing the E verify bill 3 years ago. Yes the bill my Dad introduced.

I don’t know the facts surrounding the immigration bills this year and why they died. What law which didn’t pass this year would have stopped the killings in Manassas. THE ISSUE IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT won’t deport people and won’t seal the border. Until that’s done the rest is smoke and mirrors.

You seem believe you have some great insight into my family and the inner workings. Your way off base. My fathers children all are united in one goal, his happiness.

I am not a Lawyer, but have forward this to my Lawyer for an explanation of the term and why this would be done. I don’t understand how you feel he benefited from manner in which the transaction was handled.

“THE ISSUE IS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT won’t deport people and won’t seal the border. Until that’s done the rest is smoke and mirrors.”

The ISSUE is the collusion among federal, state and local governments in creating and then perpetuating a broken and criminal immigration system. If Mr. Colgan doesn’t understand the links, i.e., economic, political, social, cultural links then I suggest he spend more time studying the issue. Perhaps he could then share his new found understanding with his Dad.

I respect Mr. Colgan’s coming to the defense of his Dad on this thread, but Senator Colgan as a business and political leader in the community for decades should get as much credit for what is wrong in the community, as such long term politicians like to claim credit for all that is just wonderful. Pointing to the Feds and blaming them is not leadership, it’s an excuse and it reflects what now passes as leadership among America’s political elite. They’re all like a bunch of kids caught shoplifting, they all start blaming each other, even though they’re all standing there with their pants falling down with the all the STUFF they’ve taken.

Good for Mr. Colgan defending his Dad, I’m sure he will understand that I and others intend to defend our families by voting for someone in the next VA Senate election who will make a determined effort to fix the collapse of our immigration system in any way he/she can, and not simply point to the other poltical delinquents caught in the act of robbing us of the same chance to live the American Dream as his family has enjoyed.

Why was it that your dad and mom moved away from Strasburg after having moved back there years ago because she missed her little house? Was it the change in the color in the neighbour hood? I THINK so and that is by definition RACIST.

Do u remember leaving stonewall middle in the ealy eighties? Take a look now brother. Remember how empty the streats were of parked cars then? Your dad is out of touch with reality and so are you if you havnt walked home from stonewall middle and checked out the reality on the ground.